They tend backyards brimming with cactus varieties, consuming the produce. Prudence Gibson meets a hidden group of gardeners and ponders the allure – and – danger of psychoactive plants.
Very hot days in Western Sydney are typically 5 degrees hotter than parts of the city close to the coast and are becoming more common, but only in the west. Four climate drivers explain the difference.
Sydney Opera House.
Dietmar Rabich/Wikimedia Commons
Sydney Modern at the Art Gallery of New South Wales is a spectacular achievement – but going forward, funding is required for more than rammed earth, glass, bricks and mortar.
Sheas Creek runs into Alexandra Canal.
Photo: Ilaria Vanni
Long before Green Square was a huge urban renewal project it was Country known to Traditional Owners for its wetlands. Until now, those water stories have remained largely invisible.
Members of the River City Voices choir perform for a group portrait.
Cherine Fahd, Being Together: Parramatta Yearbook (2021-2022)
New research documented 50 different ways Sydneysiders tried to stop sulphur-crested cockatoos opening their bins, from rubber snakes to custom locks. Humans didn’t always win.
The view of Barangaroo from Millers Point, still a leafy suburb on the edge of the development.
Dallas Rogers
A bid to amend plans for the final stage of the Barangaroo project would once again favour developers’ interests over the public interest. It shows how badly the planning process has been undermined.
Lead levels in backyard hen eggs are often much higher than in eggs bought in the shops. A new study of soil lead, chickens and eggs locates the high-risk areas in our biggest cities.
In a country that has largely avoided political and cultural hyper-partisanship, the Barassi Line is perhaps our strongest sociographic dividing characteristic, and certainly novel globally.
Low literacy levels are a common contributing factor in Australia’s homeless population. We asked people who have experienced homelessness how poor literacy affected their lives – and what would help.
Anthony Albanese’s plan for high-speed rail between Sydney and Newcastle could well be worth the cost, so long as he doesn’t muddy it with 1970s-style industry policy.
A draft plan for Sydney’s water supplies includes expanding desalination and potentially adding highly treated sewage to drinking water. All options must be on the table as the climate warms.
Australian paintings by J.W. Lewin, G.P. Harris, G.W. Evans and others, 1796-1809; State Library of NSW
The curfew and other tougher restrictions imposed on the 12 Sydney local government areas of concern have cut the expected COVID cases numbers by half so far.
Recent surveys of refugees in NSW show high levels of trust in the government and police — counter to recent suggestions that people in western Sydney haven’t built up trust in government.
Different groups of researchers give different predictions. And it’s easy to be bewildered, especially if you’re in lockdown and looking for answers. Here’s what to make of it all.
Tolerating political protest is an essential part of democratic life. But when the protests pose a genuine risk of harm to the community, that’s when they are no longer ethically justified.
PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, and Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney